Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
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The study's objective was to examine the impact of Executive Order 11246, affirmative action (AA) on the Black share of employment.
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The study uses establishment-level EEO-1 form data collected from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) between the years 1978–2004 to assess the impact of AA on employment for federal contract employers.
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The study found that the Black share of employees increases when establishments are federal contractors and regulated by AA and that it continues even after the establishments are deregulated.
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This study used an event study research design and therefore was reviewed using CLEAR’s descriptive study evidence review guidelines. As such, it does not receive a causal rating.
Intervention Examined
Affirmative Action Executive Order 112476
Features of the Intervention
Executive Order 11246 is the primary affirmative action (AA) regulation for employment in the United States enacted in 1965. Affirmative Action applies to firms that employ fifty or more people and have $50,000 or more in contracts with the federal government. Under AA, these firms are required to try to employ people from minority groups at rates that represent the demographic makeup of the local population available to work. Each contractor is required to write an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) for each of their establishments, which describes their organization and their plans for addressing the AA requirements.
Features of the Study
The study uses an event study research design to estimate the effects of AA regulation on the racial composition of employment for regulated establishments. Using administrative data from 1978 to 2004 and assessing changes in employers’ status as a federal contractor, the author examines the variation in the timing of regulation and deregulation across firms that are contracted with the federal government. The study aims to identify the Black share of employees for firms under AA and the association of establishments becoming deregulated. The sample included 36,030 establishments and 8,532 firms in metropolitan areas that had at least a 5 percent Black working age population at any point between 1978-2004. The average percent of Black employees was 13.5 and the average Black share of the working population (15-64) was 15 percent. When federal contracts started, establishments became required to adhere to AA and when federal contracts ended, establishments were no longer required to adhere to AA. Using data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission establishment-level EEO-1 forms from 1978-2004, a series of statistical models were run to assess changes in the Black share of employees in relation to establishments becoming required to adhere to AA as well as no longer being required to adhere to AA.
Findings
Employment
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The study found that before becoming federal contractors, establishments had almost no change in the Black share of employees.
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The study found that Affirmative Action regulation increased the Black share of employees over time, with the Black share of employees increased by an average of 0.8 percentage points five years after an establishment is first regulated.
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The study found that the Black share of employees not only increased while establishments were federal contractors, but that establishments continued to increase their Black share of employees even after they stopped being federal contractors.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The author did not determine the timing of the intervention, so it is possible that the intervention coincided with other events that mask its true effect.
Causal Evidence Rating
This study used an event study research design and therefore was reviewed using CLEAR’s descriptive study evidence review guidelines. As such, it does not receive a causal rating.